Bongo Fury

im so sad, i fitted glow plugs(all four ) and allens egr plates last week and was over the moon with the result but this morning a cloud of white smoke and a slight judder any ideas appreciated...

Some white smoke on cold, damp mornings is normal (unburned fuel in the exhaust), but a cloud of white smoke doesn't sound normal. If it clears up when the engine is warm, and is not accompanied by coolant loss, surely it must still be glow plug relay related?

it did disapear when she warmed up i did wonder about the relay...

Does unburnt fuel not manifest itself as black smoke?

Mine does that if I try to fire up without leaving an extra few seconds after the light goes out before turning the key.

The only time I've had plumes of white was when I suffered the dreaded cracked head.


Suggest urgent appraisal before going too far. Just in case. . . . .

Fingers crossed.

mister munkey wrote:Does unburnt fuel not manifest itself as black smoke?

Depends if it's unburnt or incompletely combusted.

Black is when there isn't enough oxygen to burn all the derv that was injected and some of it comes out as soot.

Incompletely combusted, is white smoke that smells oily, same as you get if you chuck derv on a bonfire that is only smouldering and it boils off without catching fire.
Some has burned, but the rest hasn't even caught fire and just boils off as vapour.

Usually this is a result of badly retarded timing (that doesn't allow enough time for all the diesel ignite, as the flame front is relatively slow) or a leaking injector that allows too much fuel in too large drops into the combustion chamber.

The only time I've had plumes of white was when I suffered the dreaded cracked head.

That was steam not white smoke.

mister munkey wrote:Does unburnt fuel not manifest itself as black smoke?

Mine does that if I try to fire up without leaving an extra few seconds after the light goes out before turning the key.

The only time I've had plumes of white was when I suffered the dreaded cracked head.


Suggest urgent appraisal before going too far. Just in case. . . . .

Fingers crossed.

Saw it when the new Pope was elected..................................

Normal situation for cold starts. Engine temp needs to be up in order to get a good fuel burn. The white smoke is associated with unburn fuel going out the tail pipe due to cylinder temps being too cool. Mine does exactly the same, 15% veg, K&N,EGR removed.

It helps to keep the fuel tank over half full at this time of year,condensation can develop in the tank,which can also manifest itself as white smoke on cold starts.

Good replies guys.

Reassuring.

Don't you just love this site!?

Ooh yes!...The only thing that's puzzling me is that i thought bongomaan has a freetop? Not a smoky old bongolow....

there is more than half a tank and i will try leaving it a few more seconds in the morning before i fire up the beast,thank you for all your thoughts, im sure my heads not cracked (it hurts just typing those words !), we are aft bdc must have got too many nuts... viva la fury..

No harm in trying a longer glowplug cycle mate, i used to do a 3 cycle start when one of my gp's was on the way out....

Your bongo looks a LOT like mine from what i can see of your avatar...

bigdaddycain wrote:Normal situation for cold starts. Engine temp needs to be up in order to get a good fuel burn. The white smoke is associated with unburn fuel going out the tail pipe due to cylinder temps being too cool. Mine does exactly the same, 15% veg, K&N,EGR removed.

It helps to keep the fuel tank over half full at this time of year,condensation can develop in the tank,which can also manifest itself as white smoke on cold starts.

15% WIMP.

at the moment im on 30% veg hoping to go 50/50 in the summer unless the veg oil doesn't reach the same price as coal oil.. last time i was in tesco they were selling off soya oil cheap is this usable?,that photo was taken after a good wash/wax bdc she;s not so sexy on the sides,ive seen yer pics thats a mighty shiny thing you got there,one day when the hoses/back box/tow bar/blah blah blah is done you never know,at the moment all my money goes on the one perched on my bull bars...

tried leaving a few seconds after light went out and bingo ! no smoke !...cheers

Glad to hear it bongomaan..... Cheers for the kind words Thankfully, my precious one is too big to fit on my bonnet any more....(thank god, i was getting bored with t-cutting off the scratches! ) Nice avatar by the way....